I didn't know
by KathBell
Summary: Natalia had found out about what Ryan had done, and ended up on his doorstep threatening to kick down the door. But she wasn't prepared for what else went on that night... Post-Wolfe in Sheep's clothing. N/R E/C. One-shot. K for swearing


_**Authors note: I couldn't resit this little Ryan-injured fic. I think this is my third 'Wolfe in sheep's clothing' tag, it is my favourite episode so far, and one of the only ones I haven't seen... hmm... strange... Ah well, I hope everyone enjoys it and please review!!**_

_**Summary: Natalia had found out about what Ryan had done, and ended up on his doorstep threatening to kick down the door. But she wasn't prepared for what else went on that night... **_

_**Parings: Natalia and Ryan. Eric and Calleigh. The two perfect pairings x-D. **_

_**Spoilers: Wolfe in Sheep's clothing. Minor 'Nailed'.**_

_**Rated: K+ For some swearing.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **_

_**I didn't know.**_

Natalia was sitting in her car outside of Ryan's apartment, part of her in shock, part of her in hatred. Ryan, the man she respected, dammit, the man she had fallen in love with, had contaminated evidence, hidden evidence, and been completely out of it all day. He had nearly sent an innocent man to jail for god's sake! Calleigh and Eric had been going crazy in anger, they had been saying that they should go to H' about it. But Natalia hadn't agreed. She had protected Ryan. She had said that there must have been a good reason, they had said nothing could be a good reason for risking his job, risking someone else's freedom. She had said to let her find out, then they could go to Horatio. Thank God, they had agreed.

You better have a damn good excuse for this Ry, she thought.

–

Ryan dropped his stuff on the floor tiredly. That day had been one of the hardest days of his life. Only his father's murder (which he had been the main witness to) had been harder. Strange... He thought, the thing that made you want to be a CSI is the only thing that had been harder than today. He knew that it would only be a matter of hours before Calleigh and Eric would go to someone, probably the IAB, and get him fired. They had no idea sometimes. He had been shocked, that when he didn't answer his phone for over 12 hours, no one thought something could be wrong, he was even more shocked that Calleigh thought he had been gambling again. He near enough collapsed onto the couch, but he gasped out in pain when he did so. Damn, he knew that his ribs were bruised or cracked, but that had been the worst pain it had caused so far. Why was he positive that the couch had just ruined his night? Oh yeah, probably because it did. He coughed, and to his horror, blood stains appeared on his carpet. Now that hadn't been happening all day. He heard someone knocking on his door, then banging on it. Why was it so hard to breath? His vision became blurry. He didn't realise he had been standing up again until he collapsed onto the coffee table.

–

Natalia had spent five minutes knocking on Ryan's door now. She knew he was inside there, she had heard him doing something in there before. "Ryan!" She yelled again, throwing her fist against the door. Why was he ignoring her? She heard something that sounded like glass – and a lot of it – smashing inside, and a body hitting the floor. Her stomach felt like it was being tied in knots, just like it had for the entire previous night. Natalia's CSI instincts took over as she kicked down the door, gun in her hand, ready to shoot any intruders inside Ryan's apartment. She checked the room and found no intruder... Shit. She found Ryan lying on the floor, in the middle of a smashed coffee table. Unconscious. She had never moved so fast in her life, in seconds, she was kneeling beside his limp form, checking for a pulse. When she found one, she ignored the fact that it was extremely weak and slow, and started to check for injuries. She could see a few ones on his face, but they were from the glass on the floor, nothing that hadn't been there all day. She then rolled him over and opened his top. "Oh my god..." Tears were in her eyes at the sight.

Ryan's chest was covered in knife shaped stabs, but none deep enough to kill him, just cause some major pain. His chest was multi-coloured, black, blue and odd shades of purple littering it. She noticed the split lip, and missing tooth, then she came to the realization that this had NOT happened in his apartment. He had been like this all day. Then she remembered that Ryan hadn't been answering his phone the previous day and night – Eric had been complaining about it a lot. She shook his shoulder hopefully, wanting nothing more than for him to wake up. "Oh god, I'm sorry Ry, I didn't know." She whispered.

She then decided that medical assistance could be useful. She was sure that Ryan would have kept this to himself (he had managed to keep it from a bunch of investigators who should notice these things for the entire day), and that he would not have gone to an hospital.

–

Natalia sat in the waiting room, wiping her eyes after sobbing for over an hour. She had managed to call Horatio, Eric and Calleigh – leaving a message as they didn't pick up – telling them that Ryan had been rushed to hospital. The ambulance ride had been eventful to say the least . Ryan had stopped breathing, she had watched them as they shocked his body, trying desperately to save his life. She looked up as a doctor approached, dressed in green surgical scrubs.

–

Calleigh put the message someone had left on her home phone on loudspeaker as she watched Eric lay the table. "Cal... It's Natalia." Eric and Calleigh both froze at Natalia's tone of voice. They could both tell she had been crying – a lot – and they were both worried something bad had happened to her. "R-Ryan's been taken to hospital." Calleigh bit her lip, part of her – okay, most of her – was still furious at Ryan for what he had done. If he had gotten himself injured (unless it was life-threatening) it could wait until after her date with Eric was over. "Oh God, he stopped breathing. Someone did this to him, he had been tortured!" Eric dropped the plate he had been holding, it smashed into pieces on the floor. Neither Eric or Calleigh noticed or cared. "H-He's in surgery now, Miami general. Just thought you'd like to know." And then Natalia hung up.

–

Natalia and the doctor were now in a separate room. "I'm Dr Edwards, I take it you will need to know the full extent of his injuries for your investigation." Natalia nodded, but she didn't give a damn about the investigation, she only cared about Ryan. "Your co-worker suffered many stab wounds to his upper torso, he also had been restrained for some time, most likely with duct tape. He had some bruising around his neck, indicating strangulation. Most of his ribs were cracked or bruised, and one – very recently – broken, the broken one punctured his lung. Which later collapsed in the ambulance. We have managed to fix up most of his injuries. I'm very sorry, Mr Wolfe slipped into a coma during the surgery. We are unsure if – or when – he will wake up."

–

Calleigh and Eric found Natalia staring into a room. "Nat?" Calleigh asked, reaching her. Calleigh looked through the window and gasped at the sight of Ryan. He was lying on a bed, ventilator in his mouth. Horror quickly took over her when she realised this meant that the youngest member of the team was unable to breath on his own. Eric was now standing next to them, also in shock. Ryan looked like one of the corpses in the morgue. Eric had expected for Ryan to look like he had when a nail had been in his eye, and that was nothing like this. Eric could also see a mark on Ryan's neck, and immediately realised someone had nearly killed Ryan.

"He slipped into a coma in the surgery." Natalia whispered. "They don't know if he's gonna wake up."

Calleigh covered her mouth and let herself fall into Eric's comforting arms.

One question was on their minds: How the hell did this happen?

–

Horatio walked into Ryan's room after hearing the news. When Natalia had called, he had been talking to Billy's father, three hours passed before he found out. Worry. He was worried that he would find Ryan dead, worry that Ryan would never talk to the team again. Worry that Ryan wouldn't make it. Calleigh and Eric came into his view. When he reached them, he was not told how Ryan was, but bombarded with questions. "H' Do you know how the hell this happened?" Calleigh asked, Horatio could see Natalia shaking on the seat near them.

He nodded. "Ryan was kidnapped by the Russians while on his way to interview that photographer." He paused, letting the information sink in. "They tortured him for twelve hours, and when he refused to do what they said." Horatio mentally smiled, Ryan had been loyal to the team even when faced with a painful death. Ryan was no longer 'Mr Wolfe' in his mind any more. "They kidnapped a friend of Ryan's son. Ryan was forced to tamper with evidence to keep the child alive." Natalia closed her eyes, biting back tears. Calleigh stumbled into a chair. And Eric was left to re-think everything he knew about Ryan, he had always thought he could read the youngest team member easily, but if Ryan had been kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed without him noticing, it just proved how little he knew about Ryan.

–

Eric and Calleigh walked in with another bunch of flowers, it had been three days since Ryan had been taken to hospital, and he was showing no signs of waking up. Natalia had asked them to watch him while she grabbed something to eat. Calleigh placed the flowers next to some of the other ones and took a seat. Eric just stood in the corner, trying not to look angry or sad, but he was failing in both category's. "Come on, Ry, you have to wake up for us kid." Calleigh whispered into his ear, but he didn't wake up.

Eric couldn't remove his eyes from Ryan, he could see the gauzes underneath the blankets, he could see the large bruise around Ryan's neck, he could see very faint marks on Ryan's wrists. He felt like he was ready to kill the entire Russian Mafia at that very second.

The sound of one continuing beep filled the air. Ryan was flat lining. Doctors rushed in. The sound of someone charging the paddles filled the air. Calleigh and Eric were pushed out of the way, they both clung to each other at the back of the room. Doctors yelled out stuff. Ryan's body was shocked. He still couldn't breathe. Dr Jade Edwards shocked him again. His heart refused to beat. Dr Jade Edwards was about to pronouce Time Of Death. Ryan's heart started to beat again. Eric let Calleigh cling to him as she cried, he fought back his own tears and fury as well.

How had it gone under their radar? How come no one noticed – oh, wait, Eric had noticed Ryan wasn't answering his phone. Why had no one cared was a better question. Whatever they thought, everyone shared one thought in common – they all had to make it up to Ryan fast.

–

Day nine. That was all Natalia could think about as she sat next to Ryan's bed. She had ran out of tears days ago, she just felt numb now. Her mind had convinced her heart that Ryan would never be coming back to her, he would never tell her everything would be okay again, she would never see that 'Wolfe smile' again. She would never tell him how she felt. That was what hurt the most, he would never know she loved him. She knew that some people said that people in a comatose state could hear people talking to them. Some also said that talking to them helped them wake up, Calleigh said that too. "Ry, baby, I need you to wake up." If Calleigh could do it, then so could Natalia. She slipped her hand into his, and kissed his lips, thankful that the ventilator had been removed the previous day because Ryan's lungs were strong enough to breath. She pulled away, finding that she still had tears left. They fell onto his face. "I love you Ryan."

She was amazed when his eyes opened, a small smile spread across his tired face. He squezzed her hand, unable to speak due to the dryness of his throat. But everything he wanted to say was said in that smile, in that look. 'I love you too, Talia.'

_**Authors note: I loved writing the end, and the part when Ryan flat lined, what I do to make Eric and Calleigh feel guilty eh. Anyway, I would really like reviews! Please?**_


End file.
